Venezuela's opposition leader Guaido claims support of soldiers in Caracas

- Venezuela's opposition leader Guaido claims support of soldiers in Caracas

- Deployment of a private army to help topple  President Maduro - sources  

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said Tuesday that a group of "brave soldiers" were supporting his uprising against President Nicolas Maduro in a video broadcast on social media.

Reuters reports that he called for a military uprising to oust President Nicolas Maduro and armed factions exchanged gunfire outside a Caracas air base as the country hit a new crisis point after years of political and economic chaos.

The reports has that several dozen armed men in military uniform accompanying Guaido clashed with soldiers supporting Maduro at a protest outside the La Carlota air base, Reuters witnesses said, but the incident fizzled out and did not appear to be part of an immediate attempt by the opposition to take power by force.

Video Address: https://twitter.com/i/status/1123241849639133184

Guaido, in the same  video posted on Twitter earlier on Tuesday, said he had begun the “final phase” of his campaign to topple Maduro, calling on Venezuelans and the military to back him. 

There’s now a “significant part” of the military supporting Juan Guaido’s legitimate claim to organize an interim government, Ricardo Hausmann, a Harvard professor and adviser to Guaido, said in an interview. “The military have gone to liberate Leopoldo Lopez and are there not to gain power for themselves but to reinstate the constitution.”

FRANCE 24’s Bogota correspondent Andres Espinal spoke to France 24 about the contradictory reactions of Latin American countries to this so-called attempted coup:

“On the one hand we have the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, who is blaming directly Washington for this attempted coup d’état.
We have also the foreign minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez, who is expressing his support for President Maduro.

And on the other hand we have President Ivan Duque here Colombia who called on the military in Venezuela to go on the right side of history. That’s how he called it. And at the same time the foreign minister here in Colombia called for an emergency meeting of the Lima group to discuss everything that is happening today in Venezuela.

And at the same time the foreign minister of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, is blaming not only Washington but also Bogota for what is happening today – saying that this is the actual proof that Bogota would be behind this.”

Meanwhile, Hundreds of supporters of President Nicolás Maduro have gathered at a rally beside Venezuela's presidential palace, where security force members are deployed on the perimeter wall.

The Maduro loyalists have been chanting slogans of support and a man on a truck has handed out large posters of Maduro with the Venezuelan flag behind him.

Mexico is expressing concern over possible escalation of violence and bloodshed in Venezuela.

The Foreign Relations Department has issued a statement reiterating its willingness to seek a peaceful resolution through dialogue and says it is in contact with other countries with the goal of "finding a common path."

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (popularly referred to as AMLO) repeated in a Tuesday morning news conference that he believes in non-intervention and dialogue.

Mexico has not recognised opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's acting president.

President Nicolas Maduro has just got on Twitter claimed that the commanders are still backing him. Ultimately his future will depend on which way they go.

He tweets that he spoke to regional military commanders who expressed “total loyalty.”

¡Nervios de Acero! He conversado con los Comandantes de todas las REDI y ZODI del País, quienes me han manifestado su total lealtad al Pueblo, a la Constitución y a la Patria. Llamo a la máxima movilización popular para asegurar la victoria de la Paz. ¡Venceremos!— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) April 30, 2019

Has the military swung? That is biggest question

Bloomberg reports that the big unknown still is the extent of the military support that has swung behind Guaido (and his ally and mentor Leopoldo Lopez, who was freed from house arrest). The duo were seen earlier at La Carlota military base in Caracas, where they were flanked by dozens of national guard members who wore blue bracelets and armbands to signal their allegiance. Soldiers and ordinary people have been seen joining the uprising in small numbers as the morning goes on. But the military has long been loyal to Maduro, and his ministers say the defections are not significant in size.

Soldiers say the blue armbands and pieces of cloth worn stand for “Operación Libertad,” or Operation Freedom, the name of Juan Guaido’s protest movement. Most here are low ranking guardsmen, it’s unclear how many high-ranking officers have flipped pic.twitter.com/XyvUDDRGjX— Andy Rosati (@andrewrosati) April 30, 2019

The Russians, as the Chinese, are key players in how all this will unravel. They are the financial lifeline to the Maduro regime.

Russian military specialists will not intervene in conflict between opposition, Nicolas Maduro’s government in Venezuela, Interfax reported, citing Russian embassy in Caracas.

“These are not the kind of troops who conduct combat operations,” Interfax quotes unnamed press official in the Russian mission in Caracas.

The U.S. has stayed resolutely ambiguous so far on whether it might provide military support to Guaido, with President Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton insisting that the administration has been “clear about all options on the table.” That leaves it unclear how the U.S. would respond if Guaido asked for military support.

Here is some official reaction too from the U.S. military: "We are monitoring the recent developments in Venezuela closely and are in close contact with our interagency partners and senior chain of command. At the present time, U.S. Southern Command’s mission remains unchanged."

Pompeo Tweets: Today interim President Juan Guaido announced start of Operación Libertad. The U.S. Government fully supports the Venezuelan people in their quest for freedom and democracy. Democracy cannot be defeated. #EstamosUnidosVE— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) April 30, 2019


Maduro's  regime promised the rebellion would be quelled. Venezuela is "confronting and deactivating a small group of military traitors" who positioned themselves "to promote a coup d’etat against the constitution and the peace of the Republic," Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Twitter. 

He called on citizens to resist them.

Senator Marco Rubio, who has helped shape U.S. policy on Venezuela, was tweeting early.

Just saw @CNN shamefully call what is happening today in #Venezuela a “coup attempt” @jguaido is recognized as legitimate interim President of #Venezuela by constitution,over 50 countries & OAS.

The only coup is the one carried out by #Cuba in support of dictator #Maduro— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 30, 2019

The Communist Cuba is strongly in support of Maduro regime and has called on the world all over to counter the attempted coup to outs the legitimate regime by the United States. 

A twitter commentator wrote: This is not a “Guaidó backed coup” happening now in Venezuela. It is a *US* backed coup. Guaidó has no popular support, which is why he had to rely on criminals like Leopoldo Lopez to legitimise his usurpation. Lopez is supposed to be under house arrest— some dictator Maduro is!

This US regime change attempt taking place NOW in Venezuela as self-appointed "president" Guaido calls for military coup. Refugees from prior regime change disasters pouring over our borders show how regime change always ends - in social collapse like Honduras & Libya.

US embassy in Venezuela is seriously promoting the regime change agenda of the Trump administration in Venezuela. 

The Embassy serving has the media arm of the Guaido issued protest alert. stating that the protest will continue for more than a day.

Alert: Demonstrations are scheduled to take place throughout #Venezuela on April 30 & may continue in the following days

There will be two separate protests or two separate protest are ongoing in Venezuela now, one led by Guadio for Us regime change and the pro-Maduro protest

Deployment of a private army to help topple  President Maduro - sources  

Reuters also reports that Erik Prince - the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater and a prominent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump - has been pushing a plan to deploy a private army to help topple Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, four sources with knowledge of the effort told Reuters


Over the last several months, the sources said, Prince has sought investment and political support for such an operation from influential Trump supporters and wealthy Venezuelan exiles. In private meetings in the United States and Europe, Prince sketched out a plan to field up to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire on behalf of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch.

One source said Prince has conducted meetings about the issue as recently as mid-April.

White House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis declined to comment when asked whether Prince had proposed his plan to the government and whether it would be considered. A person familiar with the administration’s thinking said the White House would not support such a plan.

Venezuela opposition officials have not discussed security operations with Prince, said Guaido spokesman Edward Rodriguez, who did not answer additional questions from Reuters. The Maduro government did not respond to a request for comment.

Some U.S. and Venezuelan security experts, told of the plan by Reuters, called it politically far-fetched and potentially dangerous because it could set off a civil war. A Venezuelan exile close to the opposition agreed but said private contractors might prove useful, in the event Maduro’s government collapses, by providing security for a new administration in the aftermath.


A spokesman for Prince, Marc Cohen, said this month that Prince “has no plans to operate or implement an operation in Venezuela” and declined to answer further questions.

Lital Leshem - the director of investor relations at Prince’s private equity firm, Frontier Resource Group - earlier confirmed Prince’s interest in Venezuela security operations.

“He does have a solution for Venezuela, just as he has a solution for many other places,” she said, declining to elaborate on his proposal.

The two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch said it calls for starting with intelligence operations and later deploying 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers-for-hire from Colombia and other Latin American nations to conduct combat and stabilization operations.

‘DYNAMIC EVENT’

For Prince, the unlikely gambit represents the latest effort in a long campaign to privatize warfare. The wealthy son of an auto-parts tycoon has fielded private security contractors in conflict zones from Central Asia to Africa to the Middle East.

One of Prince’s key arguments, one source said, is that Venezuela needs what Prince calls a “dynamic event” to break the stalemate that has existed since January, when Guaido - the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly - declared Maduro’s 2018 re-election illegitimate and invoked the constitution to assume the interim presidency.

Maduro has denounced Guaido, who has been backed by most western nations, as a U.S. puppet who is seeking to foment a coup. Key government institutions – including the military – have not shifted their loyalty to Guaido despite increasing international pressure from sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.

Guaido has stressed that he wants a peaceful resolution, and Latin American governments recognizing his authority have urged against outside military action. Senior U.S. officials, without ruling out armed intervention, have also emphasized economic and diplomatic measures to pressure Maduro.
CLOSE TIES TO TRUMP

Prince was a pioneer in private military contracting during the Iraq war, when the U.S. government hired Blackwater primarily to provide security for State Department operations there.

In 2007, Blackwater employees shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians at Nisour Square in Baghdad, sparking international outrage. One of the Blackwater employees involved was convicted of murder in December and three others have been convicted of manslaughter.

Prince renamed the Blackwater security company and sold it in 2010, but he recently opened a company called Blackwater USA, which sells ammunition, silencers and knives. Over the past two years, he has led an unsuccessful campaign to convince the Trump administration to replace U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan with security contractors.

Since 2014, Prince has run the Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group, which has close ties to the state-owned Chinese investment company CITIC and helps Chinese firms operating in Africa with security, aviation and logistics services.

Prince donated $100,000 to a political action committee that supported Trump’s election. His sister, Betsy DeVos, is the administration’s education secretary.

Prince’s role in Trump’s campaign was highlighted in the report by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, released this month, on alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The report outlined how Prince financed an effort to authenticate purported Hillary Clinton emails and how in 2016 he met in the Seychelles islands, off east Africa, with a wealthy Russian financial official on behalf of Trump’s presidential transition team.

Prince spokesman Cohen declined to comment on the Mueller report.

TARGETING FROZEN ASSETS

The two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s Venezuela plan said he is seeking $40 million from private investors. He also aims to get funding from the billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets that have been seized by governments around the world imposing sanctions on the OPEC nation, a major oil exporter.

It’s unclear, however, how the Venezuelan opposition could legally access those assets. Prince told people in pitch meetings, the sources said, that he believes that Guaido has the authority to form his own military force because he has been recognized internationally as Venezuela’s rightful leader.

Prince envisions a force made up of “Peruvians, Ecuadoreans, Colombians, Spanish speakers,” one of the sources said, adding that Prince argued that such soldiers would be more politically palatable than American contractors.Source: Reuters/France24/Bloomberg